elk, French dip

Lies!

I did not make this. It was ordered at Stony's, a sport bar one block from my home. You know one thing that's great about sports bars? They are perfect for comparing brands of television sets.  FACT. 

The place is huge. I only examined my own little corner and photographed from where I sat. It was empty at first then people started to arrive en mass. Apparently they go there in groups. 

Previously they gave residents in my building a card for dollars off pints. Turns out, the card is not a one-time thing. It's a permanent card. Maybe I can use it for voter ID. 

They have a little pond with trees, a nature scene if you like. And they also have a ski lift gondola that I suppose is used as a private booth. It takes half the block and there is much more to it around the the corners and behind the bar but I didn't bother exploring. It seems a fairly typical sports bar. I bet it gets loud in there. Oh, they also gobble up a large section of sidewalk. And somebody was off in a corner using a laptop so they probably have Wi-Fi. 

The waitress is a doll. 

Took these pics without flash. ISO 800 Aperture 1.4.  I didn't photograph the bar because there were people sitting there and I didn't want them to think I am a perv. 

last of the elk patties

And this makes me sad because this stuff was soooo good. I enjoyed every single molecule of it.

Here, I coated it with the extra topping I made for the shrimp/penne/cheese casserole yesterday. To ensure the inside was thoroughly cooked, I dumped about an 1/4 cup water into the hot pan to steam it up. The topping contained oats +sourdough crumbs +butter +Parmigiano Reggiano, therefore, it couldn't be sautéed as fiercely as it could without it.

All I can say is, this was fantastic. You might not like it as well as I do because it's not as dense as a regular hamburger, but that's what I like about it. Plus, you get all kinds of good stuff, like collard greens and oats.

This reminds me; did you see Giada De Laurentiis (that's right, ii) when she took a vacation to Parma? She's the one who's always leaning forward and giving viewers a cleavage shot of her lovely little breasteses. Anyway, Parma; some people get all the luck. She bought a whole prosciutto hog leg and had it shipped back to the US. Then, in a later shot she's in the back seat of a car, being driven by some unknown, with an entire half a wheel of Parmigiano cheese on her lap. That's thirty-five pounds of cheese, which is about 1/3 of her own weight. It's gigantic, cut in half on the flat, so it still has it's wheel shape with the open portion upward. Giada is using a cheese cutter to cut off chips from the center. It's a hilariously glutinous shot. She's adorable.

vegetable elk patty with egg

Salad = Romaine, avocado, red bell pepper with olive oil, no acid. I don't know why. I just forgot. It was nice, tasting each thing separately without them being unified with an acid.  Sea salt to taste.

elk hamburger with collard and Yukon potato

This is elk burger that friends gave me that they shot with their own two bare hands and with a gun, BMWAG. It's exceedingly lean, so I added olive oil. To prevent drying out I also added water. Oil to carry flavor, water to prevent drying. But I also wanted to load it up with vegetables and make like fried meat loaf but in the last minute I decided on adding a Yukon potato, on a whim, and that turned the whole mixture into something close to corned beef hash, except with elk and not corned beef. The potato was microwaved separately, diced, then added to the sauté pan with the other vegetables. I also added Jimmy Dean sausage™ because it seemed like a good idea, and it was. + bread crumbs, + a couple of eggs, + collard green leaves, +onion and celery, all cooked through before adding to the mixture. + bread crumbs, oh wait, I already said that + Worcestershire sauce + soy sauce +garlic powder, and WHAM! , man oh man, is this ever good. Crunchy on the outside and yet delicate inside. I sprinkled the tomato with olive oil and both patty and tomato with sea salt.

My father would not have approved of this. He objected to adulterating meat. He believed adding bread crumbs was a way people stretched it, which he considered dishonest, and was unacceptable. He demanded 100% meat. Thus, my mother's meat loaves were, how do I say?, a bit dry and crumbly. The oil leaked out into a puddle. I disagree with that anti-meat-adulteration stance. This is much lighter than a steak, it doesn't weigh you down after eating it. I recommend adding vegetables into ground meat. It helps keep the whole thing tender, moist, and light without sacrificing any flavor. Plus, it's a great way to sneak in vegetables. Collard greens? Honestly, who would ever think of that? Me. That's who.

Look at it this way. It's like eating a ground up bun, and a salad, and a meat patty, all at once. Brilliant!

Nom nom nom slurp nom nom smack nom nom nom. There's a lot more of this mixture still left. I can make MOAR!